John Berry / The Post-StandardE. Carlyle Smith, of Skaneateles, (left) and Bill LeMon, of DeWitt, hold the Frank Sinatra Trophy for the Bud Coolican Memorial Golf Tournament. Smith will play in his 40th straight "Coolican" this year, while LeMon has played in all but one. The event became the first charity golf tournament in Syracuse in 1970.

E. Carlyle Smith and Bill LeMon never could have envisioned that the little seed they helped plant 40 years ago would turn into such a gigantic force of giving.

After all, they looked at the Syracuse area’s very first charity golf tournament as simply a way to honor a departed friend and to raise a few bucks for the American Cancer Society.

With the weather that greeted the golfers that first year at Lafayette Country Club, it’s a wonder the event ever made it to a second year — let alone four decades.

“It snowed, it rained and there was lightning and hail,” said LeMon, who has played in all but one of the Coolicans. “We had everything but a tornado.”

“I almost forgot about the weather,” added Smith, who co-directed the inaugural tournament with John Osta and who is the only person to have a perfect record of playing in every Coolican. “But I do remember having to hang my clothes up to dry. Still, when we decided to have this tournament, we had no idea that it would last as long as it did or lead to so many other charity golf events like it.”

Indeed, four decades later that inaugural Bud Coolican Memorial Golf Tournament has spawned hundreds of like-minded events, all designed to raise awareness for a special cause.

None, however, has what the Coolican offers beyond tradition, longevity, loyalty and serving a need to the tune of generating more than $750,000 for the ACS. The prize for winning the Coolican offers a chance to hoist one of the biggest — and most famous trophies — in the area, the Frank Sinatra Trophy.

The name is not misleading. The Chairman of the Board, himself, paid for the trophy after learning of Coolican’s death and the cause the tournament was helping.

How that came to pass is part of the lore of the Coolican, which will tee off for the 40th time on June 7 at Skaneateles Country Club. Much of it has to do with the person it memorializes, James J. “Bud” Coolican Jr.

For anyone living in Syracuse in the 1950s and’60s, Coolican was a charismatic newspaperman turned advertising icon who was known for his endless supply of catchy radio and television jingles. He famously tapped into friendships with numerous major league baseball stars, including Ted Williams, to serve as pitchmen for many of his agency’s clients.

When cancer claimed his life in 1970 at age 55, it wasn’t a stretch for his friends and brother, Tom, who died last year, to think up a novel way to honor this unique individual.

“You have to understand,” LeMon said, “no one was doing tournaments like this. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope had their tournaments (on the PGA Tour), and I assume those raised money for charity, but no one was doing it on a local basis.”

Coolican’s legacy and connections are ultimately what made the event successful. It also led to Sinatra’s involvement.

That happened in 1971, when two of Coolican’s friends, the late Rev. Msgr. William J. “Jackie” Shannon and Chester Edward Babcock, told Sinatra about Coolican and the charity event. Shannon was an accomplished enough singer to have performed on CBS radio and Babcock, under the recording name of Jimmy Van Heusen, was simply one of the best songwriters of his era. He collaborated on dozens of Sinatra classics, including “Come Fly With Me,” “All the Way,” “High Hopes” and “Ring a Ding Ding.”

Touched by Van Heusen’s and Shannon’s stories about Coolican, Sinatra donated a set of golf clubs, a golf bag and a bottle of scotch labeled “Francis Albert Sinatra” to that second year’s winner.

The next year, Sinatra made a more permanent gesture by telling Shannon to buy “the biggest trophy in town” for the event and send him the bill.

That 4-foot-tall trophy, which bears the names of the Coolican winners since 1972, remains as the tournament’s head-turning prize.

The Coolican
There are still openings to play in the 40th Annual Bud Coolican Memorial Golf Tournament on June 7 at Skaneateles Country Club. The cost is $295 per player. Contact Craig Anderson at the American Cancer Society at 433-5639 or craig.anderson@cancer.org for more information.